The story

Mavela, 15 years old, is a Black Bronx member. She falls madly in love with Marwan, an extremely charismatic member of a rival gang, the 1080s. The young couple is forced to make a brutal choice between gang loyalty and the love they have for one another. An impossible dilemma.

release date

Based on the books

Black/Back by Dirk Bracke

The movie Black is based on the books Black and Back by Dirk Bracke, which have been adapted wonderfully by Nele Meirhaeghe, Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah and Hans Herbots into a screenplay and given the necessary streetcredibility by Adil and Bilall.

Teacher’s resource pack

Black is a very rich story and can be used in conjunction with this teacher’s resource pack (available in French and in Dutch) as educational material for a variety of courses in secondary schooling. Because of its topical value, this movie can be used as a case study in a course such as Media & Current Events. During classes on Philosophy, Religion & Cultural Theory Black can be utilized to engage with students in discussions centering around the topic of youth criminality and gangs in Brussels. Moreover, Black is a French movie and therefore its viewing is equally relevant during French classes. Finally, Black can prove to be useful as well during literary courses. In summary, Black offers a broad array of possibilities; its primary asset being that it speaks the tongue of youngsters without being pedantic or condescending.

Unique Streetcasting Project

To amplify the harshness and roughness, they chose to work with unknown actors and actresses. Using streetcasting most of them were picked right off the streets. Cooperating with the casting agency Hakuna Casting, Nabil Mallat and Chafic Amraoui visited the Brussels migrant neighborhoods looking for new talent. Caroline Bastin coached them during the auditions. Because of the unique background of the cast, these talents were able to give the film’s narrative a special touch.